Honda Motor Company has announced the development of a new Sports Hybrid Intelligent Dual Clutch Drive system. The company has three different version of the Sport Hybrid system to accommodate different vehicle characteristics.

The new one-motor Sport Hybrid Intelligent Dual Clutch Drive system is optimized for small-sized vehicles. Honda has a two-motor hybrid system called the Sport Hybrid Intelligent Multi-Mode Drive that is optimized for medium-sized vehicles. The third Sport Hybrid system is called the Sport Hybrid SH-AWD that features three motors. That last system is optimized for large vehicles and has been tipped for the new Acura NSX sports car.

The one-motor system uses a newly developed in-line four-cylinder 1.5-liter Atkinson cycle engine mated with a seven-speed dual clutch transmission. The hybrid system also uses a high-output lithium-ion battery and promises to improve efficiency by over 30% compared to conventional one-motor systems.

2014 Honda Accord Plug-in Hybrid

The two-motor system will be first used in the 2014 Honda Accord Plug-in vehicle and uses a lockup clutch and lithium-ion battery pack. The system will offer three different profiles depending on the driving situation, including EV Drive for electric only use, Engine Drive for medium to high-speed cruising, and Hybrid Drive for urban driving conditions.

The three-motor system combines a V6 engine and a high-output three-motor electrical system providing acceleration performance equivalent to that of a V-8 engine. The big benefit with this system is that despite the V-8 performance, fuel efficiency is reportedly better than that of an in-line four-cylinder.

Acura NSX Concept

The system will be mated with a 3.5-liter V6 engine and a seven-speed DCT transmission with its own built-in motor. The system uses independent motors for the right and left rear wheels with positive torque applied to the outside wheel and negative torque applied to the inside wheel allowing for independent control of torque distribution. The system is designed to help improve cornering performance – this makes the NSX the perfect application for such technology.

Potato, potato I guess. I personally find these performance orientated hybrid systems interesting and exciting. I haven't much of a Honda fan the last decade or so, but it is great to see them thinking outside the box again. The SH-AWD systems, using torque-splitting to enhance handling is fascinating.

There is nothing wrong with twin-turbo V8s and the like. But there isn't much of a market for such a vehicle, and unless the vehicle has a three pointed star on it, very little profit in it as well. I once upon a time built a stroked Mopar big block with more then 500 cubic inches of displacement, so I am not oblivious to the excitement of power and torque. But I also understand how unpractical many performance setups are. Practical performance is not an easy engineering problem. Honda makes real cars for real people and it is not exactly a huge company. They haven't excited me for a long time, but I admire their engineering prowess.

And dude, if you find the LFA a yawner, you need to re-align your expectations. Geeshh.

It didn't sell well because they tried to push it as a fuel saving Hybrid Accord, but the fuel economy was not all that impressive. The performance was there, somewhat, but not the mileage. My friend's dad owns one. It was expensive and didn't get the impressive mileage people were expecting of a hybrid.

In fact in real world usage, if you actually tapped into the power or had to commute in a daily highway sprint (where everyone is headed to DC or wherever at 80-100+ MPH) mileage was not vastly better than the non-hybrid V6. Perhaps due in part to the added weight.

If they offered a L4 hybrid option at the time, it would have sold better.

Also, the ride wasn't all that good. It's been years since I've been in it. But ride and handling were mediocre. The regenerative braking was poorly balanced with the conventional friction, and made the brake pedal feel like mushy garbage until you actually pushed hard enough to get the pads to start clamping down on the rotors.

They gave him a can of fix-a-flat as a spare, too. Did I mention it felt like a tin can, at titanium can prices?

Hybrid car guide claims 0-60 in 6.5, motortrend 6.6, and car and driver 6.7; I've never driven one. I remember the car marketed as a hybrid that didn't sacrifice performance. Also, I'm taking for granted the EPA numbers as a baseline like I do all cars; not sure what folks individual experiences are.

Maybe with a rolling start. When I first read your post, just looking at the number, I knew it smelled wrong. Even before doing any additional research. But a quick search gave me the info I was looking for. I guess I should have posted the link before, but I didn't think you'd persist in thinking this thing was a full 1.5 seconds faster than the non-hybrid V6 in the 0-60 sprint.

7.5 seconds. Which to be fair is an improvement over the stock V6 by 0.5 seconds, although the difference shrinks the faster/further you go. I think in the 1/4 mile the non-hybrid might even be a hair faster but I haven't researched that heavily. Depleting the battery causes it to lose that extra 15 ponies.

I just don't get how you can make some of the craziest and coolest performance motors (r1000, Formula 1 V10), and yet make most boring cars.

LFA was exciting from an engineering and design perspective, don't get me wrong, but so is an Aventador. From my personal market perspective, though, they are too low production and too high cost. The new NSX will most likely follow suit (which means, like the LFA, it doesn't truly compete with real-world proven ass kickers like the Nissan GT, Audi R8, Boxter, and CTS coupe, to name a few.